Rich @ PB

iTrader: (3)

This one was done at the start of last week, but we’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to post it until now - a really nice Audi S4 in Brilliant Red. In addition to plenty of swirls, there was also an area of serious scratching on the bootlid, and a deep stone chip on one of the rear doors. Here’s the process and pics…

Wash

Foamed with CG Maxi Suds II via the Gilmour
Arches blasted with the Karcher, whole car power washed
Whole car washed by hand using two buckets/Megs Lambswool Mitts
Alloys treated with Megs Wheel Brightener cut 4:1 and rinsed
Lower panels treated with Autobrite Tar & Glue Remover and rinsed
Foamed with CG Maxi Suds II via the Gilmour and rinsed
Whole car dried with PW Waffle Weave Towels

Clean

The fingertip test revealed plenty of bonded surface contaminants (tree sap, bonded particulates), so the whole car was clayed with Meguiars Detailing Clay (Mild)

Polish/Protect

After final drying off following the clay step, here’s generally what we were dealing with… lots of swirls and random scratches!







With plenty of paint to play with (120 microns on average over the whole car) we set to work with our new standard routine for hard paint correction details - Clark on the Makita using Menzerna PO85RD3.02 and Megs polishing pads, and me following up on the Metabo using Menzerna PO85RD and Megs finishing pads. One to two hits of the 3.02 were giving 95%+ correction (numerous deeper random scratches prevented any better in the time available), so while Clark got a few initial panels out of the way I turned my attention to the bootlid and the stone chip. Here’s a before of the bootlid…



After two attempts with 3.02 using a polishing pad on the Metabo it was improved to this standard…



… but if you look closely you can still see the problem area of serious scratches to the left of the halogen reflection. So, out with the wet and dry then! Unigrit 2000 was first used to take out the scratches, checking the removal rate after each pass with the DFT, and then Unigrit 3000 was used to leave a smoother finish ready for buffing. Here’s the resultant haze…



… and after another two attempts with 3.02 here’s the result, ready for a final attempt with 85RD…



Onto the stone chip. Here it is before…



… and after filling, wetsanding with Unigrit 2000 and 3000, and finally machining, it was left looking like this…



Not bad, only really noticeable under artificial lighting up close – if I’m honest I only used single stage paint and had to blend the edges with the surrounding panel slightly, but in the time available this is all I could do. However, the owner was happy, and most people wouldn’t notice it now – it took Clark’s dad over four minutes to find it when we asked him to look at the panel!

A little sequence of befores and afters showing the level of correction achieved…

Before



After



Before



After



We finished up the polish stage with a coat of Jeffs Werkstatt Prime Carnuaba by PC using a 7.5” Lake Country Black Glazing Pad – this removed any remaining traces of the slightly greasy residue left by the Menzerna PO85RD, sealed the finish and most importantly deepened the colour further. This was followed up with PW Natty’s Blue applied using a white 4” spot pad on the PC, to add further protection and depth.

Finishing Touches

All panel gaps dusted down/wiped out with Megs Slide Lock Brush/PW Super Thick n Plush Towels/QD
Alloys were protected with a coat of PW Wheel Sealant, tyres were dressed with Blackfire Long Lasting Tyre Gel
Windows inside and out were cleaned with Megs NXT Glass Cleaner
Exhaust tips were polished with Blackfire Fine Cut Metal Polish

And now a sequence of general afters taken in the garage…











The last one can be compared directly with the third image presented at the start – we were very satisfied with the final results on this one. Here’s some afters taken outside the following day when I drove the owner down to collect it.









Total work time 17 hours. Happy days!